Tapping young people's brain power

Nebraskan Joy Huber will bring her ideas and enthusiasm next month to a national forum on the financial future of the next generation.

At 31, Huber figures she'll be “an old lady” among those at the Chicago meeting. After all, attendance is limited to 150 people ages 18 to 34.

The goal of the conference, titled Democracy 2.0: Exploring the Millennial Generation's ROI (which stands for “return on investment”) is to enlist young people's brain power to find solutions for the economic challenges their generation faces.

“For the millennial generation to seize their own financial future, a certain segment of them want to work for themselves instead of working for somebody else,” said Huber, who has worked steadily since college and is four years into running her own consulting business.

Her proposal at the conference, “Entrepreneurial Education for Millennials,” is aimed at helping young people who want to start their own businesses.

Sponsors of the Nov. 18-20 summit are the Peter G. Peterson Foundation and Mobilize.org, a network promoting civic and political participation among young people. Peterson is a former Nebraskan and former U.S. commerce secretary who funded his foundation with proceeds from an investment company he co-founded.

The summit sponsors issued an open invitation, offering to pay airfare and hotel accommodations. The deadline for applications was last week. Huber applied after reading a World-Herald story about the event.

She and Trent Allen of Omaha were the two Nebraskans accepted. Allen's idea is that interest on student loans be forgiven for college graduates who work in their home states, a new policy that would slow the “brain drain” of young people after college.

Allen is a former Treynor, Iowa, resident due to complete an MBA in Australia this month.

Huber was born in Pawnee City, raised in Sabetha, Kan., has a teaching degree from Peru State College and is taking graduate courses at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

She had an “unfortunate experience” as a student teacher in Kansas and decided not to go into classroom teaching. Also contributing to her decision were the shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., 10 days before she finished her student teaching.

“That left a mark on me,” she said.

She raised money and presented school programs for the American Heart Association and helped market the Gateway Mall and worked for Nelnet Inc., both in Lincoln.

Four years ago she started her own consulting business, specializing in programs for women, human resources, recruiting, training supervisors and managers, among other topics. Starting a business wasn't easy, she said.

“What slowed me down is I've had to self-teach so many things,” Huber said. “I really feel that our society lacks the resources for small business. What we need is for somebody to come out to the high schools and colleges and junior colleges. I'd ask them, ‘How many of you would like to own your own business?'

“We could offer an assembly for anyone interested in entrepreneurship, telling the story of local entrepreneurs. We could talk about how to get started, and here's what's involved.”

She is talking with Peru State about establishing a program there. A college eventually could offer a major in entrepreneurship. Graduates would create jobs for themselves and others in their generation, she said.

If a high school or college doesn't have the budget for such programs, she said, corporations could sponsor them to build consumer loyalty and to boost young people's interest in business careers.

At the Chicago seminar, Huber also plans to talk with other participants about working together after the meeting.

“I'll be working with the demographic I'd like to be speaking to, some of them in high school and college,” she said. “If something takes off, I may need to hire other speakers.”

Contact the writer:

444-1080, steve.jordon@owh.com